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Third day of World Cup leaves three unbeaten

Hiroshima, Japan, September 10, 2015 – USA, Poland and Italy all remain unbeaten as day three of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup Japan 2015 drew to a close in Hiroshima and Hasamatsu on Thursday.

The Americans top the table having dropped just one set during the first half of the first round. Russia, Iran, Argentina and Japan all follow on two wins, with Canada on one. Egypt, Venezuela, Tunisia and Australia will all enter the rest day with some serious questions having yet to claim a win.

It took 24 points from Ivan Zaytsev and a resurgence in the third and fourth set for Italy to clinch their third win of the tournament as they saw off Egypt 3-1 (20-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-13). Zaytsev was the standout player for the victors while Matteo Piano put pressure on the Egyptians at the net with four blocks. Ahmed Abdelhay led Egypt with 15 points.

USA also made it three wins from three as they saw off North American neighbours Canada in straight sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-17). Although they committed more errors than Canada, it was USA’s variety in attack that was the difference between the two sides, as Matt Anderson top scored on 13 points followed by Taylor Sander, named Most Impressive Player, on 12 points.

Poland overcame a second-set stutter against Argentina to claim a 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 27-25) win with Bartosz Kurek having another productive game with 23 points. It was the first time Argentina had scored less than two sets in their last five matches in the tournament, while Poland scored three opening wins for the third time after 2011 and 1977.

Hosts Japan survived a third set recovery from Australia to claim a 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 25-27, 25-18) victory in front of a passionate home crowd. The loss means Australia remain winless as Japan seal a second victory in Hiroshima. Kunihiro Shimizu was the key to the win, the captain scoring 22 points as four of his teammates also scored double figures. Edgar Thomas top scored for the Australians with 19 in a match the whole team will want to forget.

Iran picked up their second win of the tournament with a straightforward 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-15) victory over Venezuela. It was Amir Ghafour who was the main star, scoring 13 points as Seyed Mohammad Mousavi and Mojtaba Mirzanjapour added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Kervin Pinerua, who was the lone bright spot in the Venezuelan offence, finished with 10 markers

Russia’s triple towers Dmitriy Muserskiy, Ilia Vlasov and Maxim Mikhaylov dominated proceedings as they swept past Tunisia in three sets (25-17, 25-16, 29-27). The defending World Cup winners were pushed to their limit in the third set, with a lack of intensity in the latter stages costing Tunisia the match.